Write a commentPermaculture and How to Start a Family Garden programs will be featured the week of March 18 at the Oswego Public Library.
Valerie DawnStar will outline the human labor minimizing permaculture concept at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 20. Erica Holman of Greenspace Home and Garden will help everyone get started on spring with her program How to Start a Family Garden at 10 a.m., Saturday, March 23.
The design system known as permaculture originiated in Australia, has become popular in Great Britain and is becoming well known around the world. The focus of permaculture is not on separate elements, but rather on the relationships created among elements by the way they are placed together; the whole becoming greater than the sum of its parts. Permaculture design therefore seeks to minimize human labor and energy input, as well as eliminate waste, by building systems with maximal benefits between design elements to achieve a high level of synergy in the final design.
Valerie DawnStar earned a Permaculture Design Certificate in 2007 and went on to train with Dave Jacke ("Edible Forest Gardens") in his course Teaching Permaculture Creatively in 2009. She completed a program from Holistic Management International in 2010.
The presentation is free and light refreshments will be available.
Greenspace Home & Garden, an urban garden store at 48 W. Bridge St., can help everyone get started on their family garden plans. The store features an ever-evolving collection of locally sourced edibles, rare plants, vintage finds, eco-friendly home goods, and terrariums. They hand select their organic plants and several varieties are chosen for their suitability for container gardens.
"Hello sunshine!" Holman said. "It's such a gorgeous day why not stop in and start planning out your garden? We have some great new garden tools to make starting seeds inside easier and greener and a great variety of Heirloom and Organic Seeds.
Holman said when raised in a family of gardeners you tend to take certain things for granted.
"Soon after moving out on my own I began to miss the taste of home-grown tomatoes, cucumbers and fresh herbs," she said. "As a renter and later as a city-dweller I began experimenting with container gardens and even now as a homeowner with garden beds I continue to use vertical and container gardens for added convenience and quite honestly I will never have as much garden space as I want."
Holman said each year she would beg her husband Mike to build just one more raised garden bed but soon after she would find more stuff to plant and would run out of space.
"I soon realized my passion for gardening especially organic gardening wasn't uncommon and that our community had a need for a neighborhood garden store that would be inviting to novice and serious gardeners alike," she said.
Greenspace Home & Garden may be reached by calling 580-2740 or by e-mail at info@greenspaceoswego.com.
